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Licorice and Spotify were two puppies that wore themselves out playing all day long. They played so hard that sometimes they fell asleep early and even slept a few minutes after Paul and Tamara got up in the morning.
One Sunday morning, just like always, Paul and Tamara left the house for church at their usual time.
‘Alone at last,’ thought Licorice. Now Spotify and I can really have some fun!’ “Come on Spotify! It’s time to run amuck!” He barked.
“Rooooo, oooooo, oooo,” howled Spotify, as he stretched his legs and opened his eyes a bit wider. “What should we do first?” He barked.
“Let’s have a race. I bet I can beat you to the couch. Ready, set, go!” barked Licorice as loudly as he could.
The puppies raced to the couch. Licorice got there first. “I did it! I am the winner,” he barked boastfully. “What game should we play now Spotty?”
“I’ll play another game if you quit calling me Spotty……How bout’ we tear the bathroom waste basket apart. You know we can pull out all the tissues and tear them up…..Rooo oooo, so much fun….”
“NO! SPOTTY! We can’t do that! Our father Paul is good to us and that would make a big mess……We could see who can dig the deepest hole in the backyard, but we’re stuck inside right now,” Licorice barked, louder than usual.
“But wouldn’t that be bad too, to tear up the yard?” Spotify barked in reply.
“Not if we do it past the trees. Remember? That’s Paul’s rule.”
“Oh yeah!” Spotify barked back.
‘Spotty is SO forgetful,’ thought Licorice.
Then Spotify barked back, “I know! Let’s see which one of us can get on the highest chair in the house………. Since we’re all alone, we can find out which one of us is the best climber.”
Spotify won.
“Well, you’re not so great Spotify……That chair isn’t even the highest one in the house,” Licorice barked; looking down at his short legs. ‘Spotty’s legs are longer than mine! It wasn’t really true, but that’s what he told himself. ‘That’s not fair,’ he thought. Then he barked, “It’s better to be all one color, than to have a zillion spots like you! A puppy could go crossed-eyed looking at you!”
“Oh yeah? Well…. that’s what you say!” Spotify barked in reply.
And then, forgetting all about Paul’s no mess rule, Licorice replied:
“Oh Yeah? Well…….. I bet I can pull out more toilet paper than you can!” And he did. He pulled it into every room of the house, with only a little help from Spotify. And then he pulled open the package of extra toilet paper that Tamara had left in the corner, and then collapsed on the bathroom floor.
After that, instead of playing another game, they just stood there and barked back and forth for a while.
“Well I am much faster and bigger and smarter than YOU are SPOT!”
“Oh yeah? Well that’s what YOU say!” He barked back. “And don’t call me Spot!”
Just then, Paul and Tamara O’Donnell came into the house. The puppies were so busy fighting that they didn’t even hear their people at the door, as they normally did.
“HEY! Be quiet you naughty puppies! Oh look at this mess Paul!” Shouted Tamara, as she stepped onto the toilet paper; gritting her teeth.
She quickly picked it all up. Then they sat down at the table to have some lunch.
“Don’t give the puppies anything from the table. We don’t want to reward their bad behavior,” declared Paul.
“Yeah right,” agreed Tamara. “You know, coming home to the puppies so out of control reminds me of our Christian struggle.”
“Oh yeah? In what way do you mean?” Paul asked inquisitively.
“Well it’s like what Pastor Arnold was talking about this morning…..Remember he said that we tend to have ourselves on our minds too much, so rather than thinking about what we can do for someone else. We think we’re good just because we’re in church and quickly forget about putting others first.”
“Well that’s quite a stretch isn’t it?” Her husband replied.
“Is it really though? Just think about it. We were once not able to put others before ourselves. We would think we were doing good, just because we were in church….. I can remember being more focused on what I could get from talking to the others, rather than what I could give.”
“It would help if you would give me an example.”
“Ok, I recall one time God dealt with me about it right then and there…… I was so focused on talking to the people that made me feel good about myself, I gave no thought at all to talking to someone that I could have lifted up….See?”
“Yes, I see what you mean…... What we consider good, isn’t always what God considers good. And like with Licorice and Spotify……they only care about winning. Just like baby Christians, they can’t see how their quest to be the best could actually hurt someone else. It’s not that winning is a bad thing, but we should learn that winning is not what’s most important. And it’s okay to win, as long as don’t allow ourselves to become selfish.”
“Yeah,” replied Tamara. “That’s exactly what I mean. I guess we can learn a lot from our puppies. Even if they know they shouldn’t do something, they can’t really resist. And it doesn’t matter how old they become, because puppies never grow up, they may slow down, but that’s only due to old age wearing them down. They never grow up…… Children grow up, but not puppies!”
‘Wow,’ I can’t believe it,’ thought Licorice, as he listened to his people’s conversation. ‘I was being good before when I stopped Spotty from tearing up the waste basket.’
“Hey Spotty, I was good before when I didn’t let you pull out the tissues and junk from the waste basket, so hahaha,” he barked.
“Oh yeah, well I have longer legs than you…..And besides, it was all your idea to pull the toilet paper out and that was just as bad!” Spotify barked back.
“Come on puppies! Stop you’re quarreling!” Yelled Paul and Tamara, as they climbed into bed that night.
“Can you believe them Paul?” Giggled Tamara.
“Oh yeah. Tonight’s just like any other night. The puppies are barking like always. They remind me of people, the way we argue and copy each other......But we humans should at least try to grow up, and not imitate one another, unless we are in Christ. And God will help us with that,” replied Paul.
"Right on!.......And even children should know that just as their bodies grow, their spirits can and should also grow. Well, I hope they’ll sleep in late tomorrow morning, especially with tomorrow being Saturday…….We can sleep in,” declared Tamara.
“For tomorrow, that would be extra nice.....I hope they'll sleep in later than ever……”
"Now that would really be nice!" Tamara shouted.
"Hahahahaha!" They both laughed together.
"As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby." (1Peter 2:2)
"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever." Amen." (2Peter 3:18)
NKJV
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Linzy is a children's author, Christian writer, including Bible Prophecy reporting. Her portfolio includes, poetry and short stories for all ages.